A former nominated member of the Nairobi County Assembly was on Wednesday, November 2, picked for a Principal Secretary position shortly after being vetted for a CEC post in the Laikipia County Government.
President William Ruto nominated Sylvia Museiya Kihoro as the Tourism PS just a day after Ms Kihoro had been vetted together with six others by the Laikipia County Assembly following her nomination by Government Joshua Irungu.
Kihoro’s political star has been on an upward trajectory since she left the University of Nairobi from where she graduated 11 years ago.
During the 2017 elections she was an ardent Mike Sonko campaigner and supporter and her loyalty earned her a nomination slot in the capital’s County Assembly.
She is also remembered for being the first witness to defend Mike Sonko during the impeachment hearing in Senate in 2020 where she asked the Senate to dismiss Sonko’s ouster claiming that it lacked merit.
The 34-year-old professional high school teacher is now considered one of the young talents that President Ruto is tapping to help him run his new government.
Born in the arid and semi-arid Laikipia North Sub-County, Kihoro was on Monday among seven nominees that Laikipia County Assembly was vetting for the yet-to-be-formed cabinet of Governor Irungu.
During the vetting by the County Assembly, the new Tourism PS nominee indicated that she was worth Ksh138 million.
She told the County Assembly that her net worth included assets as well as bank savings that she had accumulated since leaving the University of Nairobi to being her teaching career at State House Girls School in Nairobi.
Kihoro enjoyed a 6-year stint at as a teacher before throwing her hat in the Kenyan political scene, a move that is seen to be paying off.
If her appointment is approved, she will work under CS Peninah Malonza whose appointment to the Tourism docket experienced hurdles in the National Assembly after the Wetangula-led vetting committee failed to approve her appointment.
It took the vote of the whole house to pass Peninah Malonza’s nomination for appointment by the president to take over from the then Tourism CS Najib Balala.
